In the heavy equipment industry, many types of work machines are known which include buckets used to move volumes of material from one location to another. One such type of work machine is known as a tractor/loader/backhoe, often referred to simply as a “TLB,” which—as its name suggests—includes a tractor carrying a loader at a front of the tractor and a backhoe at a rear of the tractor. TLBs are popular material movers in various industries due to the versatility that is offered by having both a loader and a backhoe.
Typically, the backhoe of the TLB has a boom at one end which is pivotably attached to the tractor, a bucket at the other end of the backhoe which is pivotably independently of the boom, and a stick connected to the boom at one end and the bucket at the other end. Such an arrangement allows for many possible positions and orientations of the bucket at the end of the backhoe in order to move material. Optionally, the stick may be pivotably and/or extendably connected to the boom to allow the bucket to extend further away from tractor.
One particular problem with backhoes of TLBs occurs when the bucket is positioned within a hole formed in a surface. Due to the tractor resting on the surface into which the hole is formed, the operator may lose a line of sight of the bucket when the bucket is sufficiently deep in the hole. Further, even assuming the operator has an unobstructed view of the bucket, it is difficult for an operator, inexperienced or not, to gauge the depth of the bucket's position within the hole. When digging holes which are adjacent to underground utility pipes, lines and conduits, for example, digging the hole incorrectly not only poses a significant safety risk to the operator and work machine, but could also result in a significant utility service disruption if the bucket damages a utility pipe, line, and/or conduit while digging the hole.
To address this problem, at least one system has been developed to visualize the location of the bucket during operation. The system, known as the EZDig Pro commercially produced and sold by AGL Lasers, has multiple sensors mounted to the backhoe of a TLB wirelessly connected to a display unit which can be placed in the operator cab of the TLB. Following a calibration which tracks movement of the sensors relative to a laser level and the display unit, the EZDig Pro purports to visualize the location and orientation of the bucket based on approximations of the bucket movement characteristics as the sensors move relative to each other. While the EZDig Pro claims to be effective, the extensive calibration process is inconvenient for an operator and, if performed incorrectly, will produce inaccurate approximations of the bucket location and orientations. Further, the EZDig Pro does not integrate with the other components of the work machine, which limits the functional possibilities of the EZDig Pro.
What is needed in the art is a way to consistently and accurately monitor the location and orientation of a work machine bucket.